Fort Gordon History

Name
Camp Gordon was created in July 1941 as a World War II training camp for the 4th and 26th Infantry Divisions, and the 10th Armored Division. It was named for LTG John Brown Gordon, a native Georgian, soldier, legislator, and businessman. Following World War II, the camp was designated a U.S. Army Personnel and Separation Center.

From October 1943 to January 1945 Camp Gordon served as an internment camp for foreign prisoners of war. From May 1945 until April 1946 the U.S. Army Personnel and Separation Center processed nearly 86,000 personnel for discharge from the Army.
U.S. Army Disciplinary Barracks for Convicted Criminals
From early 1946 to June 1947, the U.S. Army Disciplinary Barracks for convicted criminals was located at Camp Gordon, and the installation was scheduled for deactivation. However, 2 major schools were brought to Camp Gordon in 1948: the Military Police School and the Signal Corps Training Center.
Re-designated as Fort Gordon
On March 21, 1956, Camp Gordon was re-designated as Fort Gordon, making it a permanent part of the Army's readiness posture. On January 3, 1958, a Non-commissioned Officer Academy was established at Fort Gordon. By the 1990s, it was the Army's largest NCO Academy. In the 1950s, the Korean War led to a major expansion of the Signal Corps Training Center, making it the largest single source of Army communications specialists. The Civil Affairs and Military Government School was established at Camp Gordon in October 1955 where it remained until its move to Fort Bragg in 1971.

Training Location
During Korean and Vietnam Wars, from the 1950s through the 1970s, Fort Gordon served as a basic-training facility. It also provided advanced individual training for troops. Between 1966 and 1968, approximately 2,200 Signal Officers were trained at Fort Gordon's Signal Officer Candidate School (OCS), before all US Army branch OCSs were merged with the Infantry OCS at Fort Benning, Georgia.

During the Vietnam War, Ft. Gordon was also a training location for Military Police Corps in the Brems Barracks region of the fort, which was also later used in the 1980s for training radioteletype operators.

The Military Police School remained at Camp Gordon until 1975.

U.S. Signal Corps
Since June 1985 Fort Gordon has housed the U.S. Signal Corps, the branch of the U.S. Army responsible for providing and maintaining information systems and communication networks. The Signal Corps training center's primary purpose is to conduct specialized instruction for all Signal Corps military and civilian personnel.